Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-12-17
GOT THEIR LITTLE BILLS.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS INPATIENT
LY WAITING FOR BILL. DAY.

A Regular Avalanche Of Paper PROPOSE
tions Looked for and What VIII Become
of Them-The Holiday Recess Decided
Upon-Talking Over the Tarin-PIans
for Car Heating.
WASHINGTON CITY, Nov. 1.-THE Re-
presentatives just now are engaged in two
things-in indeavoring to convince the
speaker Of the wisdom OF appointing them to
places upon the committees to which they
desire to be assigned and in preparing to
deluge the house with bills the moment that
consent shall be given to introduce then An
impartial observer who has only the interest
of the public service and a desire to retrench
expenditures at heart would be amazed to
witness the preparations which are being SO
generally made for bill day. Five
hundred bills and mole have already
been introduced in the senate. II is
not extravagant to estimate that the number
Of bills likely to be introduced in the house
at the first time set apart for the reception of
bills will be 5,0o0 There were more than
Is, 900 bills introduced in the last congress-
of which i2, 900 failed. A very large pro-
portion of these 1900 bills are to be REIN
troiuced in the Fiftieth congress, and if one
doubts it, glance at the desk of almost any
representative would soon dispel those doubts
The desks are full of old printed bills, with
the numbers erased. In other respects they
are tine same old familiar faces, and are
ready to be sent to the clerks desk when the
call of the states shall begin.
1t is now expected that that
ominous roll will be called Monday and
there is very little probability that 1t will be
| much more than finished at the time fixed
for ad journment. The experienced clerks at
the desk who have taken some pains to in
! form themselves as to the tremendous ava
| lanche of printed matter which will be show
| cred upon them soon, have estimated that
three days will be necessary to call the roll
of the states for the introduction Of bills.
! The printers are delighted because the pub
| lie printer will be able to recall some of the
! furloughs, and the old junk men are pleased
/ because they know that little later on they
! can obtain these bills from the refuse vaults
| of the capitol for from to cent per
| pound and can sell them to the butter
men in the market at l cent pound.
The comparatively small number OF
these bills which don't find their way
to the butter tub and the pulp vat
will be loaded upon the outgoing postal
| trains, franked to admiring constituencies
and the dockets OF the Fiftieth congress will
be just as full as those of the Forty-ninth
and the percentage of bills which failed to
become laws will not be less and there is
no more probability now than there has been
at any time for twenty years that there will
be any reform in the public printing in this
respect so long as it costs members of con-
gress nothing to send it to their constituents
Meanwhile some of the large storerooms be-
meath the terrace which have been recently
finished are already Overlooking with ac-
cumulated stores of public documents. and if
terraces are to be built for storerooms more
will soon he needed